Process of treating nitrocellulose to reduce its viscosity



Patented Sept. 15, 1925.

UNITED STATES PATENT ori ice.

GILBERT C. BACON, or STAMFORD, CONNECTICUT; AssIeuoR TO ATLAS rownnn Com PANY, or WILMINGTON, DELAWARE, A oouroua'rron or DELAWARE.

PROCESS OF TREATING NITROCELLULO'SE TO REDUCE I'lS VISCOSITY.

No Drawing. Original application filed June 20, 1922, Serial No. 569,722. Divided and this application filed July 14, 1922. Serial No. 575,057.

T 0 all whom/it may concern:

Be it known that GILBERT C; BACoN, citizen of the United States, residing at Stamford. in the county of Fan-field and State of Connecticut, has invented certain new and useful Improvements in Processes of TreatinglNitrocellulose to Reduce its Viscosity, of which the following is-a specification.

This invention relates to a process of treating nitrocellulose to reduce its viscosity and this application is a division of my copend-ing application Serial Number 569,722,

filed on June 20, 1922. The application referred to had to do with the treatment of a wide range of nitrocellulose products, including the newly nitrated cotton, celluloid and cellulose scrap, smokeless powder and the like with heat or heat. and pressure,

either with the said nitrocellulose productsin a dry state or in a liquid of low solvent power. heat and pressure, the nature of the nitrocellulose product is permanently modified in such manner that when it is thereafter used as a base for a nitrocellulose solution, such as a lacquer or spray. or varnish, its viscosity is markedly reduced.

This divisional application will be devoted to the step of treating a nitrocellulose product of the character indicated with heat or heat and pressure, alone and in. a substan tially dry condition, i. e. before the addition of any liquid either solvent or non-solvent.

Furthermore the invention contemplates the heating of products of-the character specified ina heat retaining and transmittingand oxygen excluding medium, such as sand, whereby waste nitrocellulose products,

such as smokeless powder, for example, may be safely handled, it being well known that large quantities of this material are available substantially as scrap.,-since the close of the World War. v

I have found that the heating of nitrocellulose products of the character indicated afiect such'marked changes in their characteristics as to render it possible to produce for use as varnishes or lacquers. having the treated material as a base, solutions containing as high as 100 ounces of nitrocellulose to a gallon of solvent liquid with a Viscosity so low as to admit of their practical use for the purpose stated. Further- By such treatment with heat ormore I have found that treatment of'the nitrocellulose base material whether it' be freshly nitratcd cotton or scrap, such as celluloid scrap, motion picture film scrap, smokeless powder scrap or other nitrocellulose materials, permanently modifies the nature of the said nitrocellulose productin such manner as to render it more readily soluble in the liquld in which it is afterward to be dissolved for the purpose of making a nitrocellulose solution. In fact, this modification is so marked as to render the nitrocellulose soluble in liquids not commonly recognized as solvents thereof.

As an example of liquids not commonly recognized as solvents of nitrocellulose in the manufacture of lacquers and varnishes but which become solvents thereof when the nitrocellulose has been treated as described to permane'ntly'reduce its viscosity, I may mention ethylalcohol or a mixture of ethyl alcohol and benzol. But it is to be understood that in so far as this application is concerned n'o solvent liquid is added to the 'nltrocellulose until after the nitrocellulose has been treated state. I The treatment of the nitrocellulose with heat or'heat and pressure may be carried by'my process,- in a dry out under widely varying conditions and at widely varying temperatures and for widely varying periods of time. :As a general proposition heating at higher temperatures lessens the timerequired to effect a given degree of reduct'ionof viscosity. Therefore it is to be understood that the heating may be carried 'out at widely varying tempera tures anywhere between 60 C. and the term perature atwhich the compound in question decomposes. The treatment of the material with heat and pressure may be advantageously carried out with some materials.

An advantage of treating the material with pressure as well as heat is that the temperature is correspondingly raised and in addition the fact that the material is confined, as in an autoclave, for example, renders it possible to'draw off any vapors of value. But with other materials, such as the smokeless powder, for example, the explosive nature of the material renders it undesirable to heat it under pressure, because smokeless powder is an explosive only when confined, At atmospheric pressure it will ignite and burn will not explode. Therefore, Y when treating material of this nature, I preferably, do not confine it butmerely heat at ordinary or atmospheric pressure, though I may advantageously embed it in sand or other granular or powdery material to such an extent as to exclude oxygen for the purposes of preventing ignition of the material.

It follows as a natural result that the treatment of any nitrocellulose material, such as nitrocellulose scrap of the character above mentioned, containing residual solvents left from their initial manufacture will tend to drive ofl some of these residual solvents and will to that extent render the resultant product more brittle and less compressible than before treatment. Smokeless powder, for example, when treated by my process loses some of its residual solvent material and becomes dry and brittle, losingv its normal compressibility and tending to break and crack when compressed. While I may heat the nitrocellulose product at any temperature above 60 C. and

with useful results, I find that the best resu ts are obtained by heating the material above 100 C.

Where the scrap material contains residual solvents used during the initial manufactureof such material, I may recover such of these solvents as are of value by carrying out the heating in a closed vessel and withdrawing the solvents as they are released as vapors, subsequently condensingsuch vapors and recovering the solvents, which are frequently of Value.

Having described my invention what I claim is: a I

The herein described process of treating nitrocellulose to reduce its viscosity when incorporated in a nitrocellulose solution which consists of embedding the nitrocellulose in a body of substantially dry protecting and heat transmitting material and then sub jecting the whole to the action of heat.

In testimony whereof he alfixes his signature.

GILBERT C. BACON. 

